The equal match

Frozen moment

On a steep ridge in the Yukon, these two rams attempted to duel, but strong winds, a heavy blizzard and extreme cold (-40°) forced them into a truce.

Jérémie Villet/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

3 / 7

Early riser

Riccardo could not believe his luck when, at first light, this female gelada, with a week-old infant clinging to her belly,climbed over the cliff edge close to where he was perched.

Riccardo Marchegiani/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

4 / 7

Face of deception

Ripan was photographing a red weaver ant colony in the subtropical forest of India’s Buxa Tiger Reserve, in West Bengal, when he spotted the odd-looking ant. On a close look, he realized it was a tiny ant-mimicking crab spider, just 5 mm long.

Ripan Biswas/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

5 / 7

Another barred migrant

Under a luminous star-studded Arizona sky, an enormous image of a male jaguar is projected onto a section of the US-Mexico border fence –symbolic, says Alejandro, of "the jaguars" past and future existence in the United States’.

Alejandro Prieto/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

6 / 7

Tapestry of Life

Festooned with bulging orange velvet, trimmed with grey lace, the arms of a Monterey cypress tree weave an otherworldly canopy over Pinnacle Point,in Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, California, USA.

Related galleries

Wildlife Photographer of the Year captures battle for survival

A photo of a Tibetan fox ambushing a Himalayan marmot has earned a Chinese photographer the 2019 Wildlife Photographer of the Year award, developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London. The contest received over 48,000 submissions from both amateur and professional photographers all over the world, but Yongqing Bao’s photo was chosen for …

Zorica Kovacevic/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

A photo of a Tibetan fox ambushing a Himalayan marmot has earned a Chinese photographer the 2019 Wildlife Photographer of the Year award, developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London.

The contest received over 48,000 submissions from both amateur and professional photographers all over the world, but Yongqing Bao’s photo was chosen for capturing an extraordinary moment that exemplifies the relationship between predator and prey, and the intensity of life and death.

Yongqing Bao/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The Himalayan marmot was not long out of hibernation when it was surprised by a mother Tibetan fox with three hungry cubs to feed. Bao captured the moment in the Qilian Mountains National Nature Reserve in China. He is the director and chief ecological photographer of the Qilian Mountain Nature Conservation Association of China.

“Photographically, it is quite simply the perfect moment,” Roz Kidman Cox, chair of the judging panel said. “The expressive intensity of the posture holds you transfixed, and the thread of energy between the raised paws seems to hold the protagonists in perfect balance.”

As one of the highest-altitude-dwelling mammals, the Himalayan marmot relies on its thick fur for survival through the extreme cold. In the heart of winter, it spends more than six months in an exceptionally deep burrow with the rest of its colony. Marmots usually do not resurface until spring, an opportunity hungry predators don’t waste.

“Images from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are rare enough, but to have captured such a powerful interaction between a Tibetan fox and a marmot — two species key to the ecology of this high-grassland region — is extraordinary,” Cox added.

Cruz Erdmann/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019: Cruz Erdmann

Cruz Erdmann, 14, won the award for Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019 with his portrait of an iridescent big fin reef squid captured during a night dive in the Lembeh Strait off North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

At a young age, he developed a love for the ocean, earned his diving certification at just 10 years old. After inheriting his father’s old underwater camera, Cruz found the perfect medium to express his passion for the underwater world.

Think you have what it takes to be named the next Wildlife Photographer of the Year?

The 2020 competition–open to photographers of all ages and abilities–closes on December 12, 2019.

Sign up for our Enewsletters

Email:

Please enter a valid email address.

Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.

By submitting your information via this form, you agree to receive electronic communications from Cottage Life Media, a division of Blue Ant Media Solutions Inc., containing news, updates and promotions regarding cottage living and Cottage Life's products. You may withdraw your consent at any time.